THE Parkhead gaffer was furious with the Nigerian after he missed the team bus for a vital training session ahead of the Juventus match.

NEIL LENNON wants dozy defender Efe Ambrose to sort his head out off the pitch – and his heading on it.

The Celtic manager was furious on Wednesday when the Nigerian failed to turn up in time to catch the team bus to a crucial final training session ahead of the Champions League last-16 clash with Juventus.

As
Lennon and his squad left their Italian HQ for one last tactical run through, Ambrose slept in and had to scramble a taxi across Turin before
arriving on his own.

An agitated Lennon refused to go into detail about Ambrose’s misconduct immediately after the 2-0 defeat.

But later, as he reflected on the result that brought the curtain down on a superb Champions League run, Lennon revealed why he has opted to make the player pay for his bad time
keeping.

He believes Ambrose is showing signs of mental fatigue after a hectic schedule – and
also urged him to sharpen up on his finishing after watching him come off the bench to fluff another big chance.

Lennon
said: “He’s just let himself down. He was 10 minutes late and we left without him because he’s only got to get out of his bed, walk down and get on the bus. Anyway, he’s been disciplined for it. Whether he would have started or not has nothing to do with what happened.

“We were of a mind to go with Victor Wanyama and Kelvin Wilson at the back, just to give us stability and to be fair to the two of them, they were excellent. Losing Victor at half-time was a hammer blow as well as losing Adam Matthews.”

Asked
if he felt Ambrose now owes Celtic, Lennon said: “He owes me a fine as well. He’s going to be a few quid out of pocket by the end of the week.”

The
African Cup of Nations winner, who was heavily criticised for a series of howlers in the 3-0 first-leg defeat, replaced Wanyama at the break and sealed a disastrous personal tie by botching another big chance to make it 1-1 on the night in Turin.

Lennon said: “If Ambrose could head it then both ties would have been different. He’s missed another one from four yards out.

“I didn’t expect to win the tie, but at 1-1 you think, ‘Can we go and win the game now?’ It wasn’t to be.”

Ambrose’s form has been wobbling but Lennon does not believe his travels with Nigeria can be used as an excuse.

He said: “No, he’s a fit boy. In the African Nations he played three or four games because he got suspended in one.

“That’s
more or less the same as everybody else so it’s not an excuse. He’s just tailed off a wee bit so maybe there’s a little bit of mental fatigue.”